The New Conservatory Theatre's second
season of concert versions of musicals
continues to present excellent concerts and
this one is no exception. George
Quick has come up with grand voices
for the Andersson, Ulvaeus musical
score and premium lyrics by Tim Rice.
He even throws in a few surprises in
the way of several "new" vocal
actors.

I have a somewhat limited association
with the original British production of
Chess since I was involved with
the British consortium that put part of
money into the production. We thought, "
how could it miss in London with ABBA,
Tim Rice's lyrics, Elaine Paige, Murray
Head and Tommy Korberg in the leads?"
Michael Bennett was to be the
director but later was forced to bow out
because of illness. The musical
opened at the Prince Edward theater in
April, 1986 to great reviews from the
London critics. We had a chance to see
the production twice and I loved every
minute of it. I could not get the beat
of "One Night In Bangkok" or
the wonderful songs "Pity the Child",
"You and I", "Heaven Help My Heart"
and "Anthem" out of my mind. Even the
music to the chess games stayed with me.
The London production ran three years.

It was announced that the show would
transfer to Broadway and it opened at
the Imperial Theatre in 1988. We were
there for the first night with the
American cast consisting of Philip
Casnoff, Judy Kuhn, David Carroll and
Harry Goz. What we saw was a complete
aberration of the British musical.

The opening act was completely changed
from Merano, a Tirolean town in Northern
Italy to Budapest. Songs were taken out and put in other
places. The big choreographed scene of
"One Night In Bangkok" suddenly came up
in the first act rather then opening in
the second act in London. The story in
New York had lost its human contact
and it became a political thesis. Even the ending was changed.
In London it was upbeat while in New York
it was a downer.

The New York critics
pulverized the show. Frank Rich of The NY
Times led the negative reviewers by
calling the production "three hours of
characters yelling at one another to rock
music ... more like stock car racing
than chess". After those scathing reviews,
Chess played only two months. It was
a financial flop.

However since that time, the musical has found
a cult following and regional companies in the
United States and the UK are still presenting
Chess in various forms. Most here take the
American version while the British hang on to the
London version.

In the current New Conservatory Theatre concert version, Chess becomes
a metaphor for romantic rivalries,
competitive gamesmanship superpower
politics and international intrigues.
The pawns in this drama form a
seductive and complex love triangle.

Chess is the story of Frederick,
an American chess champion; his Soviet
counterpart, Anatoly; Anatoly's wife,
Svetlana; and the Hungarian born Florence,
Frederick's advisor and lover. The chess
games take place on stage and are
highlighted by an interesting score and
lyrics suggesting chess, with its attendant
strategies, as a metaphor for life.

George Quick, the director, used the
entire dialogue and libretto of the
New York production. His direction
is bold and courageous.I worried
about how this score would sound like
with just one piano; I need not have
worried since Dave Dobrusky did a
superb job with a synchronizer and drum
backup by Michael J. Fox. It worked
very well.

All of the singers excelled in this
performance. Noel
Anthony Escobar was outstanding as Anatoly. Mr. Escobar
has a searing top register and he was
plausibly cast as a thoughtful Russian
with a human side rather than a robot
of the state. Another surprise were the two women,
Corrie Borris as Florence and Brenda
Reed as Svetlana. Florence dominated
the stage and gave a vocally blazing
performance. She was superb in
the song "Somebody Else's Story" and
in the trio singing "You and I". Brenda
Reed held her own in the duet, "I Know
Him so Well", and gave a fine
performance as Anatoly's abused wife.

Alexander Brose played the obnoxious Freddie
Trumper, the American chess player, to the
hilt as he insulted everyone in sight. He
gave a good account in "Pity the Child".
He was excellent in the lower and middle
registers but he strained trying to reach
those high notes.

Other members of the cast must be mentioned.
Gary Wayne Farris, as the Arbiter, gave a good
account of himself in the "Quartet". Mr.
Farris has been appearing in many musicals in
the Bay area and has an excellent voice.
Timothy Duffield as Ivan and Matthew Lazzarina
as Walter both have admirable voices and
handle their parts well. The chorus proved
their worth in several numbers.

One criticism that must be addressed is the
use of two stand up mikes for Corrie,
Alexander and Noel. This is a small 99 seat
theater and mikes are not necessary. When
Mr. Brose hit the high notes his voice
sounded tinny and piercing due to the miking.

I think Chess is one of the great rock
operas of the 20th Century. If you've never seen a production
and want to hear some wonderful voices, I recommend
you get to the New Conservatory Theatre
on Van Ness. The production runs through
April 29, Thursdays through Saturdays at
8 PM and Sundays at 2 PM. Tickets range
from $16 to $32 and can be obtained at
the box office at 415-861-8972. The
last production of the current season will
be Forever Plaid.